Americans Say
  • 61% say that combating world hunger should be a very important goal of U.S. foreign policy.
  • 78% favor helping poor countries develop their economies as a way to fight terrorism.
View more World Views
U.S. Development Assistance
  • Less than half of aid from the United States goes to
    the poorest countries where people earn less than
    $2 a day.
  • The largest recipients are strategic allies such as
    Egypt, Israel, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
  • Israel is the richest country to receive U.S.
    assistance ($77 per Israeli compared to $3 per
    person in poor countries).
   (Center for Global Development)
Incredible Potential for Good
  • The U.S. was the largest single donor
    in a global campaign that eradicated
    smallpox from the world by 1977.
  • The U.S. provided funding for a
    program to prevent river blindness in
    West Africa. As a result of these
    efforts, 18 million children now living
    in the program's region are free from
    the risk of river blindness.
 (Center for Global Development)
$4.4 billion: The cost of two B-2
Bombers.

$3.2 billion: The annual budget for
the World Food Program (largest
relief agency in the world) to assist
104 million starving and
malnourished people in 81 countries.
2,700: Number of employees
working for the largest relief
agency in the world (WFP),
funded by 191 nations.

120,000: Number of employees
working for Northrup Grumman,
a leading defense contractor
primarily funded by the U.S.
Did you know... In 2002, the U.S.
Government formed the Millennium
Challenge Account which requires countries
address corruption before they can receive
aid from the United States.
Source: OECD-DAC
U.S. Second to Last Among Wealthy Nations
83 percent of
Americans want U.S.
leaders addressing
global poverty.
Congress and the
White House are here.
Americans are here
The Perception Problem
Americans drastically overestimate U.S. involvement in poverty reduction.
Global Effort
A wide range of developing
country donors are increasing
their aid to poor countries—and
these amounts are expected to
rise. Aid from countries like
Korea, Mexico, and Turkey is
likely to double by 2010 to over
$2 billion. Countries like Brazil,
China, India, the Russian
Federation, and South Africa
are becoming important aid
providers—China was the third-
largest food aid donor in the
world in 2005 and is fast
becoming the leading foreign
creditor to Africa.